Solar-powered DIY SADbot drawing machine uses light to draw

We’ve seen a drawing robot previously, while that was a self-portrait machine which helped you draw your own face, SADbot here is a solar-powered invocative drawing machine from Eyebeam artists Dustyn Roberts and Ben Leduc-Mills. Displayed at the Eyebeam's Window Gallery in Chelsea, the Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot, SADbot for short, is impressing all passersby with its ability on a sunny day, while in the dark it too goes off to sleep.

diy sadbot drawing machine 1

diy sadbot drawing machine

Based on an Arduino microcontroller, four photocell sensors, a battery, the robot has two motor controlled cables attached to the pen which move when a person interacts with it. When a person stands in front of the SADbot he covers the photocell sensors of the robot, which makes it move in the other direction. If a person covers the photocell sensors in a sequence the robot can be guided to draw the determined image. But if no photocells are covered, SADbot draws according to its programmed algorithm. Scroll down for the video demonstration.